Busy busy BUSY week (or two or three) in the Aiduk casa. But so much of it is fun and exciting that I absolutely can't complain!
I just finished my first experience taking a yoga class at Grace Studio. If you are interested in yoga, dance, or German language classes this semester, I highly recommend them! (If you join German 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays I'll see you there! And my girls will be taking ballet on Thursday afternoons!)
[If you're scratching your head and wondering if I have time for all of this on top of JGP and the NYIP course, the answer is probably no. But my commitment to these things is a story for another time. And also, we all know that I tend to get in over my head. We'll see if I can manage to balance life this time ;o) Some of these opportunities are just way too good to pass up! Moving on...]
So Jenny, the owner of Grace Studio, does this super awesome thing called Summer Intensives in between the end of her summer semester and the beginning of her fall semester. You sign up for ten days of your favorite - one hour per day! There was ballet, tap, swing dance, German, and yoga. Since my German is so bad (STILL) I thought yoga was the obvious choice.
Of COURSE I had already committed to this BEFORE we knew J would be up to his eyeballs in ALS. And yes of COURSE it happened before we finally made a decision on that second car purchase. And of COURSE the girls were on their summer break!
Needless to say, my resolve to attend all ten classes was definitely tested. Especially after how sore I was the first few days! I usually only do at most 40 minutes of yoga at a time. So I was pretty nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up.
Thankfully, Jenny is a patient and wise yoga instructor... one of the biggest lessons she and Linda (another instructor) reminded me of is to be patient with your body and be present in each day. No matter what fitness program you choose, you can't get caught up in your goals. Because there will always be another goal! It's awesome to be proud of yourself and to push yourself.
But true fitness is a lifelong journey!
I was just so amazed by how much fun I had and how much I learned during this last ten days of yoga. I got to know new friends, I learned tons of new poses and ways to build up to them, and I learned about some essential yoga gear that I need to add to my collection. (Read: I thought that yoga blocks were only necessary for beginners, but now I learned how I can use them to go deeper into some poses and build up strength for others!)
I also learned some good lessons about going with the flow and just smiling in the midst of chaos.
Please imagine five people trying to take yoga seriously with a 3yo and 4yo in the corner watching a movie. They have headphones in. So they don't realize that they're talking loud to each other. Really. Loud. But Jenny encouraged me not to worry so I kept bringing them on the days I had to! ;o) No harm was done and it stretched me to be more tolerant of my children being around during my yoga practice. Sam even experimented with me a little!
But we're kind of glad (as a family) that the yoga intensives are over because they were, well, intense. Having to get to the studio every day by 4:45pm wasn't always easy. But it was so so worth it!
If you're in the area and want to check out a sample of what Grace Studio is all about, come enjoy their 4th anniversary party this Wednesday! There will be champagne, pineapple cake, short performances from all the intensive classes, and dancing to end the evening! (And bonus - get your photos taken by yours truly!)
PS the above photo is the beginning of Lily and my attempts at imitating the amazing Laura Sykora and her daughter Mini! Yoga is fun for the whole family!!
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If you'd like to support my blog at no additional cost to you, make an amazon purchase through my affiliate links to the yoga blocks
, yoga towel
, and yoga mat
that I plan to purchase soon. You don't have to buy any of those things for amazon to send me a financial thank-you! They just track whatever purchase you make through my link and send me a small percentage. Thanks!
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